The Smiley Smile Message Board

Hello there!  ;D

Good to see this board back up and running.

Yay!!!

https://youtu.be/IhzzAUaOzsk

It’s good to be back!

A joyful afternoon!

I’ve missed it here :-D

I’m home!

Yay! The undisputed Greatest Beach Boys Forum Ever is back!

Much thanks to Charles and our fantastic Mods for taking it back up!

Yep! No place like home!!  :pirate :h5 :rock :love :happydance :bow :kiss :woot :woot :woot :woot :woot :thumbsup :wave :hug :grouphug :old

Reports of our demise were...AHEM!...premature.  :3d

AGD's attempt to be the Arnold Toynbee of all things Beach Boys (as in the "decline and fall of the SS board that began when I was banned!!" :lol)--and the subset of jerks over on "The Nearest Faraway Place" who piled on with him--should hang their heads in shame. We won't hold our breaths for THAT, of course...

That said, let's all go to the beach! Yee-haw!!!  :hat

Hooray!!!  Clearly the best BB message board out of all of them by far.   8)

I had to look up who that was.

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I was fearing that my only way to keep afloat with Beach Boys stuff would be the EH board.  

Thanks, thanks, thanks!  :) :) :) :)

Great, thank you very much for the effort to maintain this wonderful site alive! :)

Great to have this place back up and running again. This corner of the net has been a lot quieter these last few weeks. I'm not going to be one of those people that pile hate on EH but plurality is everything.

Soooo happy to have to have the forum back... so happy!!!!  :)

That's why they pay me the big bucks over at "obscurereferencesrus.com"...  :3d

Too bad I didn't use "Arnold Toynbee" as my alias over at "The Nearest Faraway Place"!!  :smokin

I'm glad to see the board restored!

That's the song I heard playing in my mind as I logged in this afternoon...great song, good call on the soundtrack! Although I almost thought I heard the faint strains of the piano intro to "Home Sweet Home" by Motley Crue as well.

I hope everyone had a great and enjoyable Holiday season this year, and best wishes for a Happy and Healthy New Year in 2022!

So...Heard any good jokes lately?  :p

Someone threw a bottle of mayonnaise at me. I said, “What the hellman?!”

When a Cougar gets so old she needs a hearing aid, she becomes a *pregnant pause*

Def Leppard.

Phew, thought you guys were gone for good!

I was sad I couldn't mourn Ronnie Spector's passing with everyone here. A sad time in the music world and in the world of the Beach Boys too, as she was so hugely influential for them, Brian especially.

God, that was and still is such a heartbreaker. Brian’s reaction was the first thing I thought of when she passed.

Nice to see the board back. Hello everyone, hope you had a good start into 2022.

Mine too

Greatly relieved to have the board back!  I wish folks here and on the other boards would stop the “pissing matches” over “our site is better than their site”. We’re all fans of the same music, let’s move on. 

I’m with you actually. I’m not going to lie and say the pot shots didn’t piss me off just a smidge but it’s small potatoes at the end of the day. Boards back and I’m here to see another day. Already off to a good start

OSD jokes? ;)

Here is where I disagree. Well, I should say I partially agree with you guys, as these feuds are ridiculous. But the things said on the Endless Harmony (irony at its finest, just looking at their Smiley Smile thread) were not just "potshots" Billy. In the last couple weeks they doxed Guitarfool, they lie about events/people, they were just flat out rude and obnoxious to LePage. Some of the people complaining about being banned have never once said "hey, maybe I shouldn't have spread those rumors" or "maybe I shouldn't have made multiple troll accounts on Smiley" etc. I mean, it's really odd to see some really great people/posters there seem to not mind that any of this vitriol is going on over there.

It's also funny to me that some people there complain ENDLESSLY about those PMs being made public - when NO ONE there cares to delve into the content of those PMs, or if it was cool for someone with a "HISTORIAN" status to be sharing some fairly heinous rumors about the wife/family of Brian Wilson. No one there talks about that - instead they are only pissed that those messages were made public. I guess people there are cool with rumors/gossip being spread like that in private - but what gets me is that they bitch about Guitarfool being a horrendous moderator who has no moral standing, then they themselves throw out the morality book when it comes to someone who is meant to be trusted with FACTS who spreads fake information to new and old fans alike. It's a double standard - it's not surprising, but it's just really weird to see people complaining about a lack of standards here when they clearly have none themselves.

Also odd is this idea that most there who were banned from here didn't deserve their bans. MANY of the people banned there did some rather awful things here that made them deserve to get banned. Both moderators here can attest to that WITH PROOF (as much of the infractions are literally archived here).

And Billy, this is what I have an issue with: the EH forum temporarily became the only substantial Beach Boys forum out there this past month - and in that time we saw lies, names dragged through the mud (including yours Billy), and double-standards. That's why this is nothing that should be brushed off - because if this website goes down again, the only substantial forum left is the one cool with doxing people, lying about people, the forum that has to literally re-write thread titles because people are THAT hateful of Brian Wilson's modern music, etc etc.

I think the one good thing that came out of the Smiley Board being down for a long time: LePage finally set the record straight that "bills/money" have nothing to do with the board going down ever-so-often. So thankfully we'll never have to read AGD or his cronies claiming "ChUcKy DiDn'T pAy ThE bIlLZZ!!!!" ever again...then again, truth doesn't mean much in that circle, so perhaps we will hear the obnoxious line again.

^this is from a forum that has 16 pages, much of which is full of complaints and jabs, of thread about THIS Beach Boys forum.

I don’t think anyone here cares that other Beach Boys communities exist. My goodness there is a funny one on Reddit (not the main Beach Boys subreddit, but more of a "troll" community) that has me in stitches every time I go there. I think all of us welcome that other communities exist, I think our issue regarding Endless Harmony is COMPLETELY prominent in the 16 pages of vitriol that exist on the EH forum. People there are literally doxing a moderator of ours here. There are pages of jabs at the members here. Gee I wonder why we're annoyed.

And if members of the EH forum want us to live rent-free in their minds, so be it. But what annoys me is that newcomers will come along there and be totally swayed by this garbage. That good people get dragged through the mud because of the distortion of the truth that takes place over there (both regarding the fandom and Beach Boys history itself) - it is pretty awful.

*Edit: want to add that I'm not alluding that this place is perfect either. I myself have been a prick at times (even in my comments above I'm as far from a gleaming beacon of positivity as I can get), and I myself have been banned from other forums for trolling. So I'm not coming at this from some moral high ground. All of us are imperfect, I just wish that more people would do some introspection regarding this - and maybe then 16 pages full of obnoxious attacks on another forum wouldn't exist.

Just chiming in to say, I think it's pretty lame that they spent 100+ posts patting themselves on the back for how "drama free" their community is when they only made it that way by chasing off anyone who did not fit their mold.

Guitarfool, nothing personal, has not always been the best mod. I'm sorry but I share that opinion. The Brian fandom sometimes blinded itself to the flaws of his solo career and it could hamper honest discussion of the newer music. This is a fair grievance, and it's good then that both forums exist so the different sub-communities can thrive without getting on each others nerves. Huzzah.

That being said, I don't recall Guitarfool ever publicly belittling a poster who is half his age until she left the forum because she knew she'd never be welcome. That was on Endless Harmony. As I recall, that particular poster did a lot in the early days of the forum to lay the foundation for interesting discussions so that the site would grow. But apparently that doesn't outweigh 1) daring to use the politics subforum they included and 2) saying "vinyls" instead of "vinyl records." As I recall, she tried to leave on somewhat good terms by saying something nice about everyone in a farewell post and these people, twice her age I remind you, took potshots on the same thread after she wasn't there to defend herself anymore. A different mod gaslit everyone by saying: "she has a history of causing problems," ignoring the fact the the first mod has publicly bullied her off and on ever since her very first post in a Beach Boys forum.

It all worked out better for everyone in the end, the youth propagated to the reddit(s) and discord(s) and BeachBoysToday forum. Meanwhile the clique who've been on the forums together for years and (for good or ill) have an established camaraderie with each other get to pretend they're the unambiguous good guys who never hurt anyone or made a questionable call with authority. Maybe it's petty to bring this up but y'know what? I exist, my experience was real and I took exception to being whitewashed out of history, so to speak. I mean, as long as they're apparently fine with bringing up old wounds, I say people in glass houses... yadda yadda

I'm glad SmileySmile is back for those who prefer it. I have no intention of sticking around and I think that's better for everyone, but I couldn't help check out the forums again when I heard this place went offline. I sincerely wish everyone well in these crazy covid times, and before you ban my new IP address, I'll show myself out.

(From the EH forum)


Assuming this is directed at me as I'm the only one who has claimed mods had edited the title...and yes I am clearly reading the EH forum as I am talking about and responding directly to accusations, lies, etc made there.


It was clearly and obviously a single from the official BW YouTube & streaming accounts from DAY ONE, the original title was up long after this should have been obvious.


Brian literally plays piano for a living* (edit, I realize he doesn't really play in concert, not the point, he plays piano, writes songs on the piano for a living). See, this is what annoys me about this undertone from a certain cadre that Brian is incapable of doing anything himself without someone else doing it for him. It leads to thoughts like the one above. And I'm NOT blaming the OP for this - as I once had the same thoughts about Brian - I really thought he wasn't producing or doing anything much himself on his records. This was due to a common misconception that gets passed around by a certain circle who congregates now on the EH forum...but they were adamant in passing across these rumors here a decade ago. It led me to distrust a lot of what Brian released for years (though thankfully I no longer hold these views).

I honestly didn't even think of the possibility that the OP changed the title (ignorance on my part), so I'm sorry for the untruth. Thanks for the correction, I do earnestly apologize to you and the EH forum for making that claim...and I won't make it again.

I read, now and then, every Beach Boys board I know of. When Smiley went down, I started to read EH in earnest as it was the most prominent board still "alive". Won't state my opinion about the board at large, because it would be off topic, so I'll limit myself to the 16 page thread where they talked of the Smiley board. About that, I feel authorised to express a sincere opinion, as after all I am a member of this board. So I'm sorry, but they don't get a free pass. I find that 16 page thread, overall, unforgivable.

I was getting worried. Glad to see we're back.  :3d

I am extremely happy to see this board back online. I don’t post here that often, but I do actively read the forums. I credit this board as being the source of so much of the knowledge I’ve wound up acquiring about my favorite band.

I joined here over a decade ago and read it even prior to that. Let me just say that I think the ‘split’ that occurred circa 2016 has been a very good thing. In 2014 this place was getting so toxic that I actually voluntarily left the forum for years and stopped reading it entirely. Bear in mind this was BEFORE guitarfool ever got promoted to moderator. I only actually started reading and occasionally posting here again in 2017, and by then the events that led to The Pet Sounds Forum’s creation had already occurred. At first I had no idea what had happened and was confused why half of smileysmile was seemingly gone and were now over there, but I managed to piece together what had happened through reading certain key threads that had been active during the time period I had been away. This board has been so much better since the split took place; it’s like night and day. I sincerely hope it never goes away and never reverts back to how it was prior to the split.

I’m so happy we’re back!! My first order of business is to find out who the heck decided to make the LPR soundtrack digital and streaming only and why? But I’m just happy to be back, I’ve missed this place so much.

I always had this page bookmarked, and I kept the faith and kept on rechecking - glad it's back!

Ditto ... and ditto!

Kudos to whomever got this done!

It's a bit mad that you are now actually quoting something from their forum after all that's gone down to separate things over the last few years. Maybe there could be a no mans land in-between forum for grievances?

Glad to have Smiley back. Doubt I will ever join any other BB's forum. I have very little to say  ;D

I mean, someone called me out for spreading something that was factually wrong and I wanted to explain my position and apologize for saying what I did. I don't think that is really mad/crazy for me to do.

I did quote someone else above from the forum, and I don't mean to make a habit of that, but for 16 pages a lot of people have posted a lot of crap about good people here, and I wanted to share my opinion about it. I'm sure things will temper down a bit and get back to normal - whatever that is for our forums haha.

Anywho, I too am glad to have the forum back - thanks to whoever helped get it back up and running.

I don't post here much but I've lurked for a long time. Glad to see it's intact and that conversation will continue.

From my outsider's perspective, the "drama" between this forum and Endless Harmony is quite embarrassing for pretty much everyone, but it really does seem like the MAGA-hat-wearing trolls mostly live there and not here, which is to Smiley's (and our mods') eternal credit.

It's bizarre to me that the Beach Boys fandom is so dysfunctional. On the Hoffman forum there is a Byrds thread that has gone on for hundreds of pages and nearly a decade without a single significant argument that I can recall, even though there is of course a lot of disagreement as to the merits of various musical projects. And there were schmucks in that band's story that at least equal to the schmucks in and around the Beach Boys'. Am I missing something? How did music so joyously beautiful and issues so inconsequential give rise to all this rancor?

My main reason for adding to the "Smiley Down Again" thread on EH was to answer the misinformation AGD was posting about everything from why the board was down now, why it has gone down in the past, what I was currently doing about the board being down, and the history of the board.  If this was from any other person online with an axe to grind, it would be one thing, but when someone who promotes himself as an "Author/Historian/Researcher" can't state the history of this board correctly (the imaginary "interim board" that existed between the Smile Shop board and this board), and intentionally won't accurately describe the current situation, then his credentials as an historian and researcher of anything, including this board, me, and the Beach Boys, should be questioned and not taken for granted.

To explain my comment on EH, "I will say that all of this has reminded me that, many years ago, Jon Hunt and John Lane were right, and I was wrong. I wish that weren't the case": for a variety of reasons, I stay away from this board, and really, any Beach Boys message boards.   A lot of great things happen in the online Beach Boys communities, but there's a lot of intentionally toxic behavior as well.   Finding out that AGD, and probably others, have spent time and effort making up myths and lies about me and this board, that I am only just now finding out about, reminds me of all the awful things I have witnessed here and on many other BB boards.  The mental, physical and spiritual toll wiped me out like it wiped out others before me.  I'm not diving back into that cesspool of negativity again; the last two years have not been fun for most anyone, including me, and I have too many responsibilities at this time to make myself sick by fighting stupid battles that never really end.

However, good news: there are active conversations about how to make sure this doesn't happen again.    It's too soon to go into details, but if everything goes well, the disruptions will be minimal, and maybe there might be some improvements.  I thank you all for being here, and for your patience.     

In my experience, I've seen two reasons: one, there are people who, while they are BB fans, use BB message boards to create trouble for a variety of reasons, including boosting their egos, putting other people down, getting attention, and so on.  Two, once more and more Smile tracks were officially released, including Brian and the BBs Smile albums, some people found themselves with less musical topics to discuss, and filled their time with reason number one.

Like with most things we discuss, we sometimes trick ourselves into thinking there are only two sides: left/right, liberal/conservative, Brian/Mike.  But the real world is nuanced and layered, like onions and ogres.  Binary Syndrome, some call it.

Stop by more often Mr. Lepage. I enjoy your contributions!

Actually one of the best reasons to have this site back is I was getting sick of reading ‘good riddance…shame about the lost historical archives’ posts. Hopefully that thought is put to bed permanently.

I don’t post as much as I once did and actually thought that might do me for Beach Boys message boards once SS went down, but I’ll hang in there. Nice to be back up. 👍👍👍

This site is(was) my first always go to , thankfully it is now back
Was rather fed up of hitting the F5 key for the last month  :smokin

So glad your back....really missed you...BB landscape not the same w/o you!

I'm sure you're right about the reasons, Charles. But if that is really why the Beach Boys fandom always seem to be at one another's throats, that's sad. Frankly I think there's a lot of Beach Boys stuff that is at least as interesting and mysterious to talk about as Smile ever was. The Pet Squares guy on YouTube shows that even things like the Little Deuce Coupe album are ripe for discussion.

But instead the fans just sink into the old Brian/Mike stuff, or worse, meta-Brian/Mike stuff where they're arguing about the Brian/Mike argument (or arguing about the argument about the argument). That's just pathetic.

Yep

I bet Mike Love had a hand in this!

You are worthy to join our crusade!

Oh I am so happy this board is back! Here's to looking forward to a Holland/Carl and the Passions boxset this year?  :bw

Absolutely, SB! I like the way he thinks! The membership card is in the mail.   :woot :woot :woot

1 million percent agreed.

Which hand though? 🤪

Glad the board is back up. May we all remember the reason we are fans and the greatness of this music. Let's be good to one another. Here and on other forums. I'll be posting anywhere as long as the topics are interesting and the discussions can enlighten us more on our favorite group.

This is where my issue lies. I’ve heard about way too many good people getting mud slung at them (both publicly and privately) by this cadre. I’ve heard worse stories and I will keep them to myself. And I guess some good posters there are just so entrenched or willfully ignorant that they don’t care. I’ve seen a lot of good posters start to basically exclusively post over there - and I get it, on the surface it a mostly peaceful and fun place to talk about music, but goodness look at the quote above from Charles - how can one read that and think that all is well over there?

I’m really sorry that happened to you Charles. And I totally get what you mean about getting physically, mentally, and spiritually worn out by this stuff. I contribute a lot of negativity here myself and I don’t like it. Honestly when this forum was down (and before I read the nonsense thread over at EH) I was very peaceful and content with life. Perhaps a long sabbatical would do me some good.

Stay https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=o1Z_hskvz1M

I feel you. Ironically I had just returned from my own sabbatical the day before the board went down!  Time away did me wonders actually. I no longer hold any kind of issues with the “legacy” being spoiled; being away gave me some perspective  . The brand being taken out of the hands of BRI was the best thing to ever happen to the band in decades (spoiler alert for a new post !), and there’s nothing Mike’s crew could possibly do to “ruin” their legacy at this point, and if he cant , certainly not a cape wearing buffoon and his cronies either. We as The Beach Boys internet community (both boards)are so wrapped  up in our little bubbles that we completely missed the landscape changing.

But…that’s a post for a different time

If you need any help in securing (https:) the website or updating the forum software, feel free to send me a PM. I move websites regularly between servers as it's part of my day job...do all the usual maintenance required etc to keep everything running smoothly. I would say they are generally smallish sites though and this one is huge but happy to have a look. Biggest thing for here is making sure everything is backed up before making changes.

Glad we're back. I was getting pretty bummed at the prospect of losing the ten zillion posts going back 16+ years, to say nothing of obviously having the active board to share as well. It was getting pretty sad watching people over the last month speaking of the board in the past tense.

If you need any help in securing (https:) the website or updating the forum software, feel free to send me a PM. I move websites regularly between servers as it's part of my day job...do all the usual maintenance required etc to keep everything running smoothly. I would say they are generally smallish sites though and this one is huge but happy to have a look. Biggest thing for here is making sure everything is backed up before making changes.
[/quote]


That would be great if it could be done. Don’t like the “not secure” warnings every time I wish to check up on things here.

Confused as to why there is "rivalry" between this board and EH.  I enjoy posting on both.   :shrug

But anyway it's nice that this board was revived...with all the old posts still intact too!  Hopefully this doesn't happen again.  (I just jinxed it.)